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How we get zirconium

How much do we make each year, and how?

Mines produced about 1.2 million tonnes of zirconium concentrates in 2025, mostly zircon. Australia, South Africa and Mozambique gave two thirds. Almost no zirconium is recycled from old products.

Last updated 10 October 2026.

How much is produced

Production

~ 580thousand tonnes a year1

2025. Our conversion of the USGS estimate of 1.2 million t of zirconium mineral concentrates (gross weight) in 2025. USGS takes ZrO2 as 65% of gross weight; ZrO2 is 74.0% zirconium. 1.2 million t × 0.65 × 0.740 ≈ 580,000 t.

In its text, USGS gives about 1 million t for 2025, a fall of 12%. In its table, USGS gives 1.2 million t for 2025 and 1.3 million t for 2024. The country values of the table add up to 1.24 and 1.29 million t, a fall of about 4%. We use the table. Hafnium (about 1 part in 34) is counted with the zirconium.

Production over time
0 500 1k 1.5k 1960 1980 2000 2020
Unit: kt. World production of zirconium mineral concentrates, thousand tonnes, gross weight. USGS does not include US production for 1944-52, 1959-87 and from 1993, to protect company data; it includes it for 1953-58 and 1988-92. USGS gives no world value before 1944. The low value for 2013 (1.01 million t) is as given by USGS. The 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries give 1.2 million t for 2025, with the United States included2
Show the numbers
Yearkt
194417.3
194519.7
195025.2
195578.2
1960129
1965235
1970399
1975418
1980680
1985815
1989979
1990852
1995918
2000731
2001750
2002973
20031,040
20041,070
20051,060
20061,240
20071,420
20081,350
20091,210
20101,280
20111,660
20121,420
20131,010
20141,580
20151,500
20161,580
20171,510
20181,580
20191,430
20201,190
20211,350

USGS estimates world mine production of zirconium mineral concentrates at 1.2 million tonnes in 2025, gross weight. In its table, USGS gives 1.3 million tonnes for 20241. In the text of the same chapter, USGS says that production fell by 12% to about 1 million tonnes1. The two numbers do not agree, and USGS does not explain the difference. We use the table.

By our calculation, 1.2 million tonnes of concentrate hold about 580,000 tonnes of zirconium. USGS takes the oxide as 65% of the weight1, and the oxide is 74% zirconium.

Output grew fast after the Second World War. Outside the United States, it was about 17,300 tonnes in 1944 and 399,000 tonnes in 1970. It reached 1.66 million tonnes in 20112. The series is in the chart. In 2012, production fell. USGS gives weaker demand in China as the reason, because house building slowed3.

Who produces it

Zirconium mineral concentrates (gross weight) by country
Australia (est.) 33% 400 kt
South Africa (est.) 23% 270 kt
Mozambique (est.) 13% 160 kt
United States (est.) 8.3% 100 kt
China (est.) 8.3% 100 kt
Senegal (est.) 5.8% 70 kt
Indonesia (est.) 4.3% 52 kt
Madagascar (est.) 2.2% 26 kt
Rest of the world 1.8% 22 kt
2025. Mine production of zirconium mineral concentrates, thousand tonnes, gross weight, USGS estimates. The US value is rounded to the nearest 100,000 t to protect company data. Other countries together produced 40,000 t. World: 1,200 kt1

Australia produced about 400,000 tonnes in 2025, South Africa 270,000 tonnes and Mozambique 160,000 tonnes1. Senegal, Indonesia, Madagascar and Sierra Leone are smaller producers. USGS rounds the US value to the nearest 100,000 tonnes to protect company data1.

A few companies run the large mines. In 2021, Iluka Resources produced 320,000 tonnes of zircon in Australia4. Kenmare’s Moma mine in Mozambique produced 100,000 tonnes of zircon products4. Eramet’s Grande Côte mine in Senegal produced 64,000 tonnes. Eramet owned 90% of it and the Senegal government 10%4.

How it is mined and refined

Zircon is a coproduct of mining heavy-mineral sands for ilmenite and rutile4. At Grande Côte, a dredge floats on an artificial pond and takes thousands of tonnes of sand each hour5. The company says that it uses no chemicals and that the extraction is only mechanical5.

Zirconia, the oxide, is made by reacting zircon with caustic soda and then chlorine. This gives zirconium oxychloride, which is then calcined3.

The metal is made by the Kroll process3. Zircon is first turned into zirconium chloride, and the chloride is then reduced with magnesium6. This metal holds up to 2% hafnium. It is used in chemical plants and in special alloys3. For nuclear use, the two metals must be separated, because they absorb neutrons very differently3.

What it costs to produce

We found no public data on the cost of producing zircon. The energy use and CO₂e of zircon and the metal, from a life cycle study, are in the impact chapter. The 2025 prices of zircon and zirconium sponge are in the market chapter.

Recycling

End-of-life recycling

0%7

Other sources: below 1%, zirconium and hafnium metal (USGS, 2017)3.

Global end-of-life recycling collection rate from the UK criticality assessment of 2024 (BGS). The UK gives 0% for each use of zirconium (after ZIRCOMET 2019).

The USGS value follows Graedel and others (2011). USGS says that foundry sand and spent zirconia refractories are often recycled, but that the amounts are not known.

Recycled content

~ 5%3

World recycled content of zirconium, 1% to 10%, as given by USGS (2017) after Graedel and others (2011). We show the middle of the range. It includes new scrap from manufacturing.

Range 1% to 10%.

In the UK criticality assessment of 2024, the world end-of-life recycling rate for zirconium is 0%7. USGS, after Graedel and others (2011), gives less than 1% for discarded zirconium and hafnium metal worldwide. Recycled content in products is between 1% and 10%3.

Most recycled zirconium is scrap from making and shaping the metal3. USGS says that zircon foundry cores and used zirconia refractories are often recycled, but the amounts are not known1.

Sources

  1. 1

    U.S. Geological Survey (Shelby N. Johnston), 2026. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , Pp. 1-2: production and use, salient statistics, events, world mine production and reserves, resources, substitutes, footnotes.

    World mine production and reserves by country, prices of zircon, sponge and hafnium from 2021 to 2025, US uses, trade, recycling and substitutes.

    • Zirconium mineral concentrates ... (thousand metric tons, gross weight) ... World total (rounded) ... 1,300 ... 1,200 ... Calculated ZrO2 content as 65% of gross weight
    • United States Australia China Indonesia Madagascar Mozambique Senegal Sierra Leone South Africa Other countries World total (rounded) … 100 100 400 400 100 100 81 52 31 26 11 124 160 11 68 70 25 25 290 270 71 40 1,300 1,200
    • Global mine production of zirconium mineral concentrates decreased by 12% to an estimated 1 million tons gross weight in 2025
    • Calculated ZrO2 content as 65% of gross weight.
    • (thousand metric tons, gross weight) ... United States Australia China Indonesia Madagascar Mozambique Senegal Sierra Leone South Africa Other countries World total (rounded) ... 100 100 400 400 100 100 81 52 31 26 11 124 160 11 68 70 25 25 290 270 71 40 1,300 1,200
    • Data are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand tons to avoid disclosing company proprietary data.
    • Zircon foundry mold cores and spent or rejected zirconia refractories are often recycled but could not be quantified.
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey (C.A. DiFrancesco, J.B. Hedrick, P.J. Loferski, G.M. Bedinger, E.S. Sangine and J. Gambogi), 2023. Zirconium mineral concentrates statistics, in Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States (Data Series 140) , ds140-zirconium-2021.xlsx, columns 'Unit value ($/t)', 'Unit value (98$/t)' and 'World production'.

    US unit value of zircon from 1918 and world production outside the United States from 1944, to 2021.

    • World production ... 17300 ... 399000 ... 1660000 ... 1350000 ... Production data for the United States were not included for 1944–52, 1959–87, and 1993 to the most recent year.
    • World production … 17300 … 399000 … 1660000
  3. 3

    U.S. Geological Survey (James V. Jones III, Nadine M. Piatak and George M. Bedinger), 2017. Zirconium and Hafnium, chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States (Professional Paper 1802) , Pp. V1-V26: summary, uses, supply and demand, geology, deposit types, resources, environmental considerations.

    Crustal abundance, deposit types, Kovdor, Trail Ridge, metal production, recycling, prices in 2011 and 2012, health and environment.

    • was in response to weakened demand, particularly in China, because of a slowdown in housing construction
    • Zirconia, which is a form of zirconium oxide, is produced by reacting zircon ore with caustic soda and then chlorinating it to produce zirconium oxychloride
    • Zirconium and hafnium metals are produced by the Kroll process
    • The resulting metal contains a mixture of zirconium and up to 2 percent hafnium and is used for nonnuclear applications in corrosive environments and in specialty alloys
    • For nuclear-grade applications, the metals must be separated because of their different neutron absorption characteristics.
    • Less than 1 percent of discarded zirconium and hafnium metal or alloy is recycled or reused worldwide
    • the recycled content of zirconium in products globally is only between 1 and 10 percent
    • Less than 1 percent of discarded zirconium and hafnium metal or alloy is recycled or reused worldwide, and the recycled content of zirconium in products globally is only between 1 and 10 percent
    • Most of the zirconium recycled is from scrap generated during metal production and fabrication
  4. 4

    U.S. Geological Survey (Joseph Gambogi), 2025. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Minerals Yearbook 2021 , Text pp. 86.1-86.6: uses, prices, world review by country.

    Uses of zircon, zirconia and the metal, prices in 2021, Chinese imports, and output of the main producers.

    • In 2021, Iluka Resources Ltd. produced 320,000 t of zircon from its mining and concentrating operations in Australia
    • At Kenmare Resources plc’s Moma mining and processing operations, production of zircon products increased to 100,000 t
    • Eramet Group reported zircon production of 64,000 t in 2021 from the Grande Côte mining operations that were jointly owned by Eramet (90%) and the Senegal Government (10%)
    • Zircon is a coproduct of the mining and processing of heavy-mineral sands for the titanium minerals ilmenite and rutile.
  5. 5

    Agence France-Presse, published by France 24, 2025. Giant mine machine swallowing up Senegal's fertile coast .

    The Grande Côte zircon mine in Senegal, the views of local people, the mayor and the company, and statements of the president. Read with Firecrawl; the site refused a script.

    • the massive machine sucks up thousands of tonnes of mineral sands an hour, moving forward on an artificial lake created with water pumped from deep underground
    • no chemicals are used … purely mechanical
  6. 6

    Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026. Zirconium - Element information, properties and uses , Sections History, Uses and properties, Biological role, Natural abundance.

    Discovery, name, isolation and first pure metal, uses, biological role.

    • Zirconium metal is produced commercially by first converting zircon to zirconium chloride, and then reducing the chloride with magnesium.
  7. 7

    UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, British Geological Survey, 2024. UK 2024 Criticality Assessment , Table 1 (criticality results); appendix tables of end uses (Zirconium, from SCRREEN 2023) and end-of-life recycling rates (Zirconium, from ZIRCOMET 2019).

    Zirconium is not critical for the UK; world end-use shares and a recycling rate of 0%.

    • Zirconium (Zr) 0 Iron (Fe) 83